Europe’s Semiconductor Ambitions: The Chips Act at Mid-2026
The European Chips Act, adopted in September 2023, set an ambitious target: double Europe’s share of global semiconductor production from 10% to 20% by 2030. With €43 billion in public and private investment pledged, the initiative aims to reduce the continent’s dependence on Asian and American chip suppliers. At the halfway point of 2026, how is the project tracking?
The short answer: real progress, but the timeline is slipping. Major fabrication plant (fab) projects are underway in Germany, France, and Italy, but the construction timelines for advanced semiconductor facilities are measured in years, not months. TSMC’s fab in Dresden — a joint venture with Bosch, Infineon, and NXP — broke ground in late 2024 and is targeting initial production in 2027. Intel’s planned mega-fab in Magdeburg, originally announced with great fanfare, has faced repeated delays and now expects first silicon no earlier than 2028.
The Talent Bottleneck
Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Europe’s chip ambitions is not money or political will — it is people. Semiconductor manufacturing requires highly specialized engineers and technicians, and Europe’s current talent pipeline cannot fill the projected demand. Universities in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium have expanded their microelectronics programs, and the EU has launched a Chips Skills Academy, but training takes time. Industry estimates suggest a shortfall of 50,000 to 70,000 qualified workers across the European semiconductor ecosystem by 2030.
The Netherlands plays an outsized role in this story. ASML, based in Veldhoven, remains the world’s sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines — the multi-million-euro tools essential for manufacturing the most advanced chips. ASML’s monopoly position has made it a geopolitical asset, with both the US and China pressuring the Dutch government over export controls. The current Dutch cabinet has maintained restrictions on shipments to China, aligning with US policy while navigating the economic implications for ASML’s order book.
Supply Chain Resilience
Beyond the headline-grabbing fabs, the Chips Act is funding a quieter but equally important shift: building out the supply chain for specialty chemicals, ultra-pure gases, and advanced packaging. Belgium’s imec research center continues to lead in next-generation chip architectures, and the Netherlands’ Brainport Eindhoven region has attracted several new suppliers and R&D centers.
The geopolitical dimension cannot be ignored. With the US CHIPS Act pouring $52 billion into domestic manufacturing and China racing to build its own indigenous capacity, Europe’s semiconductor push is as much about strategic autonomy as economic competitiveness. The lesson of the 2021–2023 chip shortage — when European automakers lost billions due to supply disruptions — has not been forgotten in Brussels or Berlin.
At the two-and-a-half-year mark of the Chips Act’s implementation, the verdict is cautiously optimistic: the foundations are being laid, but the real test — producing advanced chips at scale, on European soil — still lies ahead.
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